July 11, 2024
LAS VEGAS – What are the top five e-commerce improvements that Gen Z consumers in the Asia-Pacific region want to see? A new KPMG research report tracked these categories, as well as many other online buying trends in the region (see more Prosper Gen Z analysis HERE).
The five hoped-for improvements are: 1) competitive pricing (38%); 2) fast and reliable delivery (28%); promotions and discounts (25%); 3) promotions and discounts (25%); 4) a wide variety of products (24%); and 5) good customer service (21%).
While consumers overall across Asia Pacific identified mobile payment as the retail tech they have tried the most (55%), among Gen Z the most popular was social commerce – especially in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
“Executives we spoke with noted that the fast-paced nature of social commerce platforms such as TikTok, where not just regional, but international trends rapidly come and go, is having a downstream effect on Gen Z’s purchasing behavior and forcing brands to reassess their supply chain strategy,” wrote KPMG researchers. “This observation is supported by our consumer survey, which shows a majority of Gen Z rank social commerce (63%) and livestreaming (57%) as important to their shopping experience.”
The KPMG report reveals that retailers are embracing AI at an unprecedented speed, resulting in improved customer experiences and increased sales. “Nearly every company we interviewed for this report is either exploring or implementing AI in various areas of their operations, with several executives noting that the rate of uptake is surpassing any previous technology,” added KPMG researchers. “Our interviews with retailers reveal that the most prevalent application of AI is enhancing the relevance and accuracy of product recommendations.
“In fact, among the surveyed markets, including China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, India, and the Philippines, a majority of consumers expressed satisfaction with AI-based recommendations,” researchers continued. “However, consumers also voiced concerns around privacy and lack of human interaction.”
Amazon Hits $2 Trillion Market Cap
SEATTLE – Amazon joined Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, and Microsoft in the small club of companies with $2 trillion or more in market capitalization. As reported on CNBC and elsewhere, the step into rarified air took place in late June after a 3.9% stock price jump. According to CNBC, Amazon shares have gone up 27.5% so far in 2024, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq overall has risen about 18% over the same period.
“In April, the company reported first-quarter earnings that showed its Amazon Web Services business was continuing to rebound from a recent slowdown caused by businesses that trimmed their cloud spend,” writes Annie Palmer at CNBC. “Amazon executives also spoke about how AWS can benefit from a surge in demand for generative AI services. Investors have also cheered the company’s recent cost-cutting initiatives, which fueled Amazon’s earnings growth in recent quarters.”